Mechanics' Institute Chess Room Newsletter #107

"You will never avoid oversights by grim determination; what is
needed is a trained eye."
Purdy

1) Wong and Ossipov tie for first in Konig Tuesday Night Marathon
2) Yermo to play FIDE World Cup in Hyderabad
3) Kasparov leads FIDE Rating List
4) Chess in the Land of Sunshine: Konig on California Chess in 1953
5) Upcoming Events

1) Wong and Ossipov tie for first in Konig Tuesday Night Marathon

Russell Wong drew in the final round of the Imre Konig Tuesday Night
Marathon with fellow National Master Igor Margulis to enable Victor
Ossipov to force a tie for first at 6 1/2 from 8. Ossipov gained his
share of the top prize by beating National Master David Blohm in the
final round. Tying for third through sixth in the 72-player event,
which ran from August 13 to October 1, were NMs Margulis and Rudy
Hernandez, Expert Peter Grey and B-player Jonathan Shockley who turned
in a stunning upset in the last round by defeating top seed FM Frank
Thornally.

The next Marathon will start October 22 and will run 9 rounds, ending
December 17. Advance entry fee remains a modest $30 which has to be one
of the better bargains out there.

2) Yermo to play FIDE World Cup in Hyderabad

Mechanics' Institute Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky will
again be representing the club in an elite competition. He will be
among the participants in the 2nd FIDE World Cup which starts October
9 in Hyderabad, India. Top seeds for the event, which has a first prize
of $46,000, are Anand, Morozevich and Ivanchuk. Yasser Seirawan will be
the other US participant.

3) Kasparov leads FIDE Rating List

Garry Kasparov is still far ahead of everyone on the FIDE October rating
list. Alexander Onischuk is the top American at number 40 (2649) followed
by Gregory Kaidanov (#42 at 2646), Alexander Goldin (#57 at 2630), Yasser
Seirawan (#58 at 2629), Alex Shabalov (#68 at 2621) and Joel Benjamin
(#84 at 2609). Perennial US Grand Prix Champion Alex Wojtkiewicz is listed
for the first time as representing the United States.

4) Chess in the Land of Sunshine: Konig on California Chess in 1953

CHESS IN THE LAND OF SUNSHINE

To the Editor, "British Chess Magazine."

Dear Sir, - You and readers of the "B.C.M." have no doubt read
about the anonymous donor giving 30,000 dollars to erect an enclosure in
New York Central Park to enable chess fans to play regardless of rain and
cold. A leading New York newspaper devoted a long column, printing the
photo of the "home of chess," and as a clever contrast a
peculiar pair, a young negro boy playing an old man whose face somehow
indicated that there was nothing else left to him, but chess. Whether it
was on purpose or accidental, it conveyed to me the idea of the
universality of chess beyond all boundaries, irrespective of countries.
I have previously had the opportunity of observing chess-players of all
nationalities, when I was taking part in the chess olympics at Prague,
1931, Warsaw, 1935, and Munich, 1936. It was a still greater thrill when
I undertook to visit the country of sunshine as California might be
called.

I believe for many of us (like myself) California has a unique appeal.
To the romantic mind Los Angeles conveys the movie stars with its
"Hollywood," which is a district incorporated into the town.
The soul of Hollywood chess is Herman Steiner, who runs the Hollywood
Chess Club. At the back of his house there is a fine building which
accommodates the club. The chess room itself is made spectacular by
the photos hanging round the walls. There we see most of the famous
actors and actresses photographed "playing chess." Though I may say
on good authority that except for Humphrey Bogart none of them excels
at the game, but by the expressions on their faces and their posture
they convey to the onlooker the "real chess fan." Perhaps chess masters
should not only try to learn chess, but learn to act in order to be more
successful.

The club is made up of a mixture of all nationalities. I once heard
Alistair Cooke say in his "American Commentary" that most of
the newcomers to Los Angeles came with the secret idea of settling down
in the "movies," but were stranded in all kinds of curious
professions. Though he mentioned some peculiar ways of making one's
living, he did not mention "chess professional." And if Herman
Steiner is called one even by himself, this does not convey the right
notion. The work he puts in to keep up the activity of the club, the
difficulties that must be overcome to organize mere1y a simultaneous
display or a tournament cannot be understood by one who is not familiar
with the structure of the city. It is spread out, with inadequate bus
service. It is not adequate because it is not a commercial success,
since nearly everybody in Los Angeles seems to have a car. I cannot
forget the feeling of loneliness when I walked in the street under the
blazing sun to find myself by myself, and only the passing cars indicated
that the town was not "dead." Because an American, even if he
wants to buy a stamp ten yards away, uses his car. But possessing a car
is not considered a sign of wealth, and in the evenings the quiet
residential district where Steiner lives is swarming with cars.

When I arrived in Los Angeles the County Championship was in progress and
I was surprised by the high level of chess, since, like many Europeans,
I thought that the Americans have no flair for the game. Their enthusiasm
is unbounded. I once overheard Steiner reproaching a player for having
turned up late when his opponent had to come 100 miles away. The conquest
of distances is here the main problem. I used to think in European
distances and only later realized that the State of California is one
thousand miles long, just one state and not the biggest one. To organize
a tournament or even a simultaneous display means drawing players from a
radius of 150 miles. When one considers that one has to keep up a car and
a club as well, one will understand that besides being an idealist, one
has to be a rich man to be a chess professional in Los Angeles.

Even the smaller towns have chess clubs, and it was in Long Beach,
twenty-two miles from Los Angeles, where I gave my first simultaneous
exhibition. I was going down with the idea of having a "walk
over" but I met with stiff opposition. This small town of 60,000
inhabitants has a fine club. It has a room provided for it by the
municipal authorities. This it shares with the draught players.

Women's chess is well represented in Los Angeles. Mrs. Stevenson
(formerly Sonja Graf) is here, though not active. Also here is Mrs.
Nancy Roos, former Belgian Lady Chess Champion. The most interesting
woman player is Mrs. G. Piatigorsky, who is of French extraction. She
took up chess only one-and-half years ago and her grasp of the game is
great. A pupil of Steiner, she embarrasses one with her questions on
intricate opening problems, and I had to study the Richter Attack to
be able to answer them. The game below, played in the County Championship,
will give a good example of her intrinsic play.

The continuous sunshine deceives one's sense about time, and seasons seem
to be non-existent. Except for the falling leaves and the cool evenings,
one would hardly perceive that it was winter.

Only a short distance away, 500 miles means a casual trip in America,
is San Francisco. The ten-hours' travel on the coast is most impressive,
the train winding along its way in the mountains, and forming a semicircle
so that one can see the two locomotives and the tail of the train at the
same time. On the left the Pacific Ocean glitters. San Francisco itself
is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. One may imagine
how impressive is an immense one-span bridge painted red, under which
ocean-going steamers pass by and in the distance the islands and mountains
of California showing up. This is the famous "Golden Gate
Bridge." San Francisco is the most cosmopolitan city in the USA,
one out of six is said to be foreign born. The largest chess club is
situated in the "Mechanics' Institute." (An English idea; it was once
established as a king of working men's club, I remember having visited
one in Nottingham.) It is one of the oldest if not the oldest chess club
in the USA, supposed to have been founded in 1855. Here chess fans battle
from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m.-to see twenty to thirty players is not unusual.
They run a perpetual tournament with a kind of ladder system, but with
an involved point system, to make up for the differences in the player's
strength. The main organizers in Northern California are Guthrie McClain,
Neil T.Austin, and Dr. H. J. Ralston. The latter is editor of the
California Chess Reporter, the official organ of the California State
Chess Organization. George Koltanowski has set up an organization of
his own called "The Chess Friends of Northern California Inc.,"
a corporation for promoting chess. in the names of towns like San Jose,
Modesto, Sacramento. On Sunday afternoon, going by car to Modesto (about
sixty miles from San Francisco), I was able to watch the final of the
Central California Chess League matches, where about eighty players
participated.

Though there are many chess clubs one curious thing should be mentioned:
open air chess. In MacArthur Park, in Los Angeles, and in Golden Gate
Park, in San Francisco, there is great chess activity until sunset.
Unlike players in New York, they have no enclosure.

I expected to have lots of rain when I arrived in San Francisco but a
spell of six weeks sunshine waited for me. They say it is unprecedented
in the history of the city. By the time this letter is printed I hope
all my English friends, too, will be enjoying sunshine more than it
is appreciated here, because in England they do not take it for granted.

Best regards to all my chess friends in England and to you.
Yours truly, Imre König.
April 1953

5) Upcoming events at the MI

Saturday, October 5, 2002 and November 2, 2002 The Coastside Chess Club
will be holding two scholastic tournaments this fall at the Half Moon Bay
Community Center at 535 Kelly Avenue in Half Moon Bay (telephone: 650 726
8297) from 1 to 5 p.m. on the first Saturday in October and in November.
The tournament is open to individuals in grades K-9. USCF, CalChess or
other membership is not required. For many participants, this will be
their first tournament, with some "veterans" from last year.
Tournament rules will be briefly explained at the start. All players will
receive ratings on the Coastside rating list but the games will not count for
(or against) USCF ratings. There will be five games. Writing down moves
is encouraged, but not required. Each player will have 20 minutes to
complete all moves. Prizes will include trophies, certificates, and
chess books, for the top winners and for the best results in each grade.
All players are encouraged to register in advance by emailing the following
player information to njh820@cs.com Please try to get the information to
us by noon on the Thursday before the tournament, to help save time at
the start of the event. Name:Age:School:Grade:Rating (if any, specify
USCF, ICC, Yahoo, Coastside or other source): Players who are not
registered in advance must arrive at 1:00 p.m. on the day of the
tournament. The registration fee is $15 per player. Chess sets and
some clocks will be available, but players who have their own clocks
are encouraged to bring them along. National Master Eric Schiller,
Arbiter of the 2000 World Championship and author or many books on
chess, including The Official Rules of Chess, will be directing the
event. He will provide information to parents on how to encourage
and develop chessplaying skills. The Coastside Chess Club has been
formed to provide opportunities to the growing number of scholastic
chess players on the Coastside. We welcome players from all over the
Bay Area. We hope to offer competitions each month during the coming
year, so please let us know if you can't make this one but are interested
in future events. The tournament site is in downtown Half Moon Bay with
its many great restaurants, shops and areas of historical interest.
Drive time is approximately 30 minutes from San Francisco, SFO, or
Palo Alto and about 45 minutes from Berkeley or San Jose.

Coastside Chess Club
njh820@cs.com

National Events

Dear Chess Friends,

Hope the 7th Governor's Cup Chess Tournament is on your fall calendar--October 11-13--in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The tourney will be at a new site this year--downtown at the Holiday Inn City Centre at 100 West 8th Street. Once again we will distribute $10,000 in prize money. Call (605) 339-2000 as soon as possible and ask for the $79 chess rate. ( Let me know if you have any difficulty making a reservation. I know that the state soccer tourney is in town that same weekend which may be a problem for you if you wait too long to reserve a room.)

GMs Blatny, Kaminsky, Kudrin, Shulman and Wojtkiewicz will play. Chessco will operate the book concession.

The tourney will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday night.

All state chess associations are invited to nominate their current state champion or one of their best to represent their state in this event. Please spread the word to chess association presidents. At this time I do not plan to have the Governor's Office send out invitations like I have done in the past.

The entry fee will be $50 in advance--entries must be postmarked by October 5 to receive this rate. After that entry fees will be $70.

Free entry to all GM's, IM's, and players rated above 2400.

Remember to indicate your section when you register: Open, Premier, or Reserve. (Premier is Under 2000, and Reserve is Under 1600).